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Three Thoughts Each on North Carolina’s Domination of Texas

Posted by mpatton on December 22nd, 2011

Here are three thoughts about each team I garnered from Wednesday’s game in Chapel Hill. The observations on North Carolina probably hold a little more water, as the team is much more experienced. On the other hand, Texas will probably improve significantly between now and the end of the season.

Reggie Bullock isn’t just getting love from bloggers for his defense; Roy Williams put the sophomore on Texas’ explosive J’Covan Brown whenever Bullock was in the game. Bullock’s length (he’s 6’7″) was definitely a factor, but he also did a very good job staying in front of Brown on most plays. After the game Williams’ one criticism was that Bullock didn’t box out well. But Bullock has earned the spot as the first substitute to enter the game (for Dexter Strickland), and his offensive skills make North Carolina a much more dangerous team when he’s in the game.

Texas needs Myck Kabongo and Rick Barnes on the same page. Last night Barnes benched his star point guard for a lack of “discipline” and “purpose” on offense. Without Kabongo, Texas isn’t nearly as dangerous. The forwards in particular really need a facilitator to create play-making opportunities. Kabongo is also lethal in transition. The bottom line is your second-best player can’t be riding the pine in big games.

Reggie Bullock has Earned a Spot in North Carolina's Main Rotation.

Harrison Barnes played his best game of the year offensively. Frankly, it’s not even close. Barnes scored in nearly every way possible. He scored in catch-and-shoot situations, isolation sets and on put-backs. He only had four offensive rebounds, but watching the game it felt like at least six or eight of his points came off those rebounds. This is the Harrison Barnes people were expecting when they picked him as a NPOY frontrunner.

Texas really misses Tristan Thompson inside. Yes, Thompson wasn’t polished offensively, but his rebounding and defense are major holes in the current Longhorn frontline. Gary Johnson’s rebounding also would be invaluable. Wednesday night Jonathon Holmes, Alexis Wangmene and Clint Chapman (three of the four forwards who played for Texas) combined to grab three defensive rebounds. The team only managed 17 defensive rebounds total (in comparison to 22 offensive rebounds for North Carolina).

Roy Williams Towels Up a Wet Spot During the First Half (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Roy Williams was pleased with his team’s intensity, but the ball boys could’ve used a little more initiative. At one point in the first half, Williams walked out on the court to personally wipe up a wet spot to the loudest cheers of the night. It’s hard to tell whether he was sending a message to the ball boys (for being slow to action) or to the Texas players (who seemed to be stalling the game by finding wet spots). Regardless, it got the Dean Dome fired up.

J’Covan Brown isn’t Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton was a guy who could (and did) take over games pretty much singlehandedly, dictating that the offense be ran through him. Brown is much more susceptible to disappearing on the offensive end, as he’s much more of a shooter. Maybe it was just North Carolina’s interior length that kept him shooting on the perimeter, but Brown really struggled getting inside for most of the game. It will be interesting to see how his production changes as teams get more and more tape on him in conference play.